Take nine gin-soaked raisins
Janice Wells: Last week when I started to write about the pain relief benefits of gin soaked raisins, I got side-tracked on the purported benefits of the gin, no raisins required.
To be taken with a grain of salt of course (the information, not the gin), but as Patsy Plougman wrote “not all that info is suspect … my mother swore by Dekuyper’s gin for it’s juniper berry content. good for the kidneys! Before you laugh… the dietary and health stuff that I learned at my mother’s knee are now being hailed as amazing new discoveries!”
Last week when I started to write about the pain relief benefits of gin soaked raisins, I got side-tracked on the purported benefits of the gin, no raisins required.
To be taken with a grain of salt of course (the information, not the gin), but as Patsy Plougman wrote “not all that info is suspect … my mother swore by Dekuyper’s gin for it’s juniper berry content .good for the kidneys! Before you laugh… the dietary and health stuff that I learned at my mother’s knee are now being hailed as amazing new discoveries!
Reading my column helped Ted Bartlett as he was travelling by train between Toronto and Montreal, with a bit of a cold brewing. Ted was so thankful for the good news that he decided “I’m going to order a G&T next time the cart comes through.”
Morris wrote that his wife used to drink gin and tonic until she had went on blood thinners, when she gave up the gin but kept drinking the tonic. However they immortalized gin and tonic in their email address, which contains ‘ginto.’ Why didn’t I think of that?
Patsy shared a tip “from my friends on the Labrador Straits about the health benefits of the actual juniper twigs themselves and I’ve been using that for years now. You cut about 4 ins. of the tips and bring to a boil and simmer for 30 mins or so …cool,drain and keep in the fridge.” Patsy drinks about a cup or so a day and can testify to its benefits.
She also advised “also check out golden raisins and Gorden’s gin for arthritis…a tip given to me by a fellow in the Xray waiting room!”
Which is exactly how all this gin talk started in the first place, with the tip being given to me by a doctor in Stephenville years ago, most conveniently in the liquor store. His wife was with him and swore he was a different man if he missed his daily dose of GSR.
Yes, gin-soaked raisins are so mainstream they have an abbreviation for those in the know, and perhaps it could stand for Gordon’s soaked raisins, but any gin made with juniper berries will do.
It’s very simple. Place golden raisins in a bowl, add enough gin to cover, let sit until the raisins are plumped, about a week, and then eat nine raisins a day.
Golden raisins (also known as sultanas) are important apparently because of their added sulphur and because they more readily absorb liquid. Also, this is one time you don’t want to go organic because organic raisins are not exposed to sulphur dioxide gas (sulphites) before drying and the sulphites react with the gin to make an herbal tincture.
From what I’ve read a case could be made just for the raisins without the gin. However, it doesn’t sound nearly as interesting and one must consider the fact that “soaking raisins in gin allows all of their therapeutic properties to be readily absorbed and used.” In fact, gin began as an herbal medicine and is still used as an extracting agent in traditional medicine.
These raisins are often called ‘drunken raisins,’ but “it is unlikely that you will feel any effect from the small amount of alcohol they absorb.”
Almost all the sites say eat nine raisins. I have no idea why. There thousands of sites and probably as many testimonials, like this one;
“My friend was recently diagnosed with RA (rheumatoid arthritis) and I have it as well. She heard about this golden raisins and gin recipe and passed it on to me. Her swollen knee got better and her hand pain is gone. I had an RA flare and within two days it was gone. It has made a believer in me. Thank you.”
Here are the only disclaimers I could find: Do not eat gin-soaked raisins if you are an alcoholic or pregnant, and “no side-effects are expected” as long as the number of raisins taken does not exceed 10 per day.
The way I look at it, I have nothing to lose, and nine gin soaked raisins to look forward to every day.
“It’s very simple. Place golden raisins in a bowl, add enough gin to cover, let sit until the raisins are plumped, about a week, and then eat nine raisins a day.”